<nettime> COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS AND CONTROL IN EASTERN EUROPE - A VIEW FROM ISOLATION

[Marko Peljhan <marxx@ljudmila.org>]

Command Communications and Control in Eastern Europe 
A View from Isolation

the following text includes a draft and a collection of notes for a
lecture first presented at the LEAF conference in Liverpool in April
1997

TOPICS 
-changing geopolitical and social circumstances in Eastern Europe and
the world
-unveiling of previously invisible divisions and political preferences
-digital revolution - end of the analogue era, the last possible time to 
exert any kind of control over oppressive media and state structures

A new state of awareness must be developed in connection with the
completely changed and invisible power structures, which at this very
moment shape the state of the world. Study the enemy, learn from it,
build on the knowledge, push back (pull out if necessary), start from
the beginning.

Use the following strategies: 

1. The principles of war
-objective: clarity of purpose direct every operation toward a clearly 
defined, decisive, and   attainable objective.

2. offensive (initiative): seize, retain and exploit the initiative

3. mass: concentrate combat power at the decisive place and time

4. economy of force (efficiency): allocate minimum essential combat
power to  secondary efforts

5. manoeuvre: place the enemy in a position of disadvantage through the 
flexible application of combat power

6. unity of command (cohesiveness): for every objective ensure unity of 
effort under one responsible commander

7. security (do not be surprised): never permit the enemy to acquire an 
unexpected advantage

8. surprise (surprise your opponent): strike the enemy at a time or
place or in a manner for which he is unprepared

9. simplicity: prepare clear, uncomplicated plans and clear, concise
orders to ensure successful operations through understanding

Learn the functions of command and control:

1. planning: selecting the mission and objectives as well as the
strategies, policies, programs, and procedures for achieving them;
decision making that is future oriented: the selection of a course of
action

2. directing and leading: clarifying, guiding, teaching and encouraging 
participants in the organisation to perform effectively and with zeal
and confidence

3. co-ordinating: achieving harmony of individual effort with a group
effort toward the accomplishment of group purposes and objectives. (the
words individual and group in this definition should be interpreted to
include organisational units and supra units as well)
The following is the gathered material from one of the study cases, that 
PACT (Projekt Atol Communication Technologies) has been working on for
the past year.



RESEARCH
RIVET JOINT PROGRAM / JOINT STARS PROGRAM - MICROWAVE OVEN IN THE SKY

USAF R135v/w rivet joint surveillance aircraft are equipped with an 
extensive array of sophisticated intelligence gathering equipment that 
enable military specialists to monitor the electronic activity of
enemies or potential enemies of the US and it's allies. The Rivet joint
AWACS combination has become a powerful tactical weapon in the 1990's
during Desert Storm, the occupation of Haiti, and most recently over
Bosnia. Using automated and manual equipment, mixed crews of electronic
and intelligence specialists can precisely locate, record and analyse
much of what is being done in the EM spectrum. 

Basic roles:
- providing indications about the location and intentions of enemyforces 
and warnings of threatening activity
-broadcasting a variety of direct voice communications. Of highest
priority are combat advisory  broadcasts and imminent threat warnings
that can be sent direct to aircraft in danger
-operating both data and voice links to provide target info to US ground 
based air defenses

Redefined intelligence data can be transferred from Rivet Joint to AWACS 
through the Tactical Digital Information Link TADIL/A or into
intelligence channels via satellite and the TACTICAL INFORMATION
BROADCAST SERVICE (TIBS), which is a nearly real-time theater
information broadcast. For example the aircrews in Okinawa watched the
live broadcast of the 1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia. TIBS is
broadcast via FLEET SATCOM and enhances the battle picture as provided
to combined air operations centers such as the one in Vicenza, Italy,
which oversees operations in Bosnia. The Pentagon's primary military
goal at the end of the 20th century is to create a battlefield
environment in which US forces know a foe's intentions with 
precision, early enough to foil completion of his plans. If the goal is 
achieved, US forces could dominate combat. They claim, that sufficient
prior knowledge of intent might even keep a conflict from breaking out.
Knowledge of an enemy's intentions is referred to within the Pentagon as
dominant battlespace knowledge, DBK and a key element for it's success
and applicability is a fleet of 14 RC 135 Rivet Joints, which is
scheduled to be increased to 16 in 1998. The linkage is still being
designed, that would complete the operational, communications and
electronic connectivity among Rivet Joint, E-3 AWACS and E-8 JOINT
STARS. The linkage is expected to seamlessly connect the RJs ability to
intercept and plot the location of electronic emissions with the AWACS
aerial radar picture and the JOINT STARS ground radar and moving target
indications.  

Ground radar activities happened over an extended period of time during 
1994/95/96, where strong microwave emissions were present over the
Balkan region. 
Digital communication between AWACS aircraft, Rivet Joint and Joint
Stars could not be decrypted. The analogue era is over. If you don’t
want to be monitored and heard, encrypt your own signals, jam back. 

RESPONSE
Goals:  to monitor and promote awareness of these activities
        to prepare adequate tactical answers

Take similar systems as possible models for reaction and organisation.
Fight back with the same tools. 

Problem: telecommunication laws are very oppressive towards any new and 
independent media. The presence, activities and policies of 
telecommunications monopolies stop the possible development of 
telecommunications and their proliferation into the second and third
worlds. 
Study the case of the wind-on radio, the radio without batteries.
Produce the radio, distribute it.

Suggestion: build a global independent satellite telecommunications
network / an alternative to the Intelsat system, and the new low orbit
commercial systems that are slowly becoming reality. A multinational,
interdisciplinary  organisational effort would develop tactics and
strategies and confront the global capitalist and state multinational
organisms with organised resistance and provide an alternative,
non-commercially based means of reliable telecom. Start collecting
funds, start working on possible strategies, after you develop a firm
plan, look for allies.
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